My Generation
by DeimosPhobos
Summary: After a race to save the world breaks a secret, the real horror begins.  How far will one go to learn that which is best to leave alone?  Sequel to Paranormal Missions. ON HOLD
1. Last Living Souls

AN: Here is the sequel to Paranormal Missions!

Same as before: Danny Phantom and Alex Rider are not mine! I only own the plot to this story… Oh, and the title is sort of borrowed from Captain Jack (RIP!), so it isn't mine either sadly. The chapter title belongs to Gorillaz.

Enjoy the story!

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Danny Fenton had never stopped to consider how his impacted the world. Now that he was the only halfa in existence, as Skulker loved to remind him, it never really occurred to him that he had the ability to change the world.

He had power, power which grew every day. Thankfully, the people of Amity Park as a whole had quitted the harassment towards him, learning that he was on their side after his list of heroic deeds had grown to be as tall as he was. The people grew to idolize him, mainly the girls from his school, much to his enjoyment. Enjoyment, that is, until the young females started a fan club and began following him around during his nightly patrols or irregular fights.

Presently, the young hero found himself trapped in such a situation, under the cover of darkness. Throughout all of his years of fighting ghosts, Danny had dealt with creatures of danger, shadowy impressions with the power to kill. It was enough to make him want to sleep with the light on at night, or at least the ghost shield. Now, he had to face a new enemy.

Fans.

"Danny, hey!" a flirty voice called. It belonged to Paulina, Danny's first crush. He was her first crush as well, in his ghost form at least. Sadly, the love she harbored for him had grown into a slight obsession with the aide of time, of which there was plenty. They had first met three years ago, when Danny had been a freshman at Casper High. Paulina had been in only one or two of his classes then. After that year though, she had moved to a nearby state. Her affection to him was now something he tried to avoid. If the Hispanic learned that he had started dating Sam Manson, one of his best friends, last year, she would not be pleased…

"Oh, uh… Hi Paulina!" Danny said, trying to not look too uncomfortable as the girl ran over to him to embrace him tightly. Even in his ghost form, his face managed to glow as he blushed at the close contact. "Uh, what are you doing here?" he asked, pulling away slightly.

"Spring Break!" she said brightly. "I wanted to come back home to see my old friends, and hopefully _you_ as well."

Danny smiled a little, beginning to say something until his ghost sense cut him off with a chill. Both of them saw the tell-tale sign, so Paulina giggled, leaning in to give Danny a quick peck on his cold lips before running off to get out of the way. This was good for Danny, because the kiss had completely caught him off guard and he had begun to literally sink into the ground. He caught himself just in time, slipping back out of the ground and flying off to look for the ghost.

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The rush of cool air across his face helped to revive the boy, bringing him back into focus to fight the ghost. Now, where was it? The explosion down the street, at the High school, was answer enough. Sighing, he turned towards the school.

"It's only Saturday, and I'm already back at school." He observed. "This had better be important."

Indeed it was. For a seemingly obvious reason the Lunch Lady, an elderly ghost with an unbalanced personality, had once again wandered into the schools cafeteria. Sam had had another go at changing the school cafeteria menu during the previous year, and the ghost had taken it upon herself to regularly check that the place still had meat. It rarely did, so there were frequent messes afterward. If Danny didn't manage to stop her, the ghost would summon huge amounts of raw meat into the room, through the windows no doubt, and otherwise trash the place. Even worse was the fact that Dash would then take it upon himself to blame Danny Fenton at school the next day, and he would be left to clean up the mess during detention. Often his friends, Sam and Tucker, would stay behind and help, but it did nothing to make him feel any better.

Immediate action was taken in the form of Danny phasing through the wall leading into the cafeteria kitchen. Sure enough, the Lunch Lady was searching diligently for any traces of meat. She had yet to notice that she had company.

"Sorry, we're fresh out of meat," Danny said, getting her attention. "Three hours of detention solved that. Why don't you try the Nasty Burger?"

"No meat, sweetie?" the ghost said, turning around slowly. Danny nodded, adjusting the thermos that he had strapped to his back earlier. He'd have to end this fight quickly if he wanted to get home one time.

His opponent roared, throwing up her arms in a fury. Following the movement, dozens of knives, varying in size, took to the air, spinning around madly before shooting towards Danny. The boy instantly went intangible, allowing the knives to pass harmlessly through him before retaliating. He flew to the ghost, becoming tangible along the way before kicking at her, knocking her away and then even further when he followed up with an ecto blast. The Lunch Lady went flying into a row of ovens, severely denting them.

"Ha!" she laughed bitterly. "If you had more meat on your skinny bones, then maybe that would have stopped me!"

"That wasn't meant to stop you." Danny shot back, firing energy from both of his hands before charging after the ghost. The Lunch Lady flew at him as well, and they met in the middle when Danny struck her once more. A strong uppercut sent her crashing into the ceiling, directly into a row of florescent lights. Someone had left them on, as well as half the lights in the building, as usual. Never had Danny been happier to see a waste in energy. Upon impact, the ghost began sparking and shrieking before falling in a graceless manner to the floor.

"See you later, or not!" Danny said, bringing the thermos out. He quickly opened the lid, allowing a blue stream of light to shoot out and consume the elderly ghost before him. In one moment she was consumed in the blue light, and in the next she was sucked away into the tight confines of the Fenton Thermos. Smirking, Danny capped the device, fixing it again to his back before leaving the building.

"I know it's a tight squeeze in there with the Box Ghost," Danny said to the thermos as he flew over the school. "But think of it this way; you two have so much in common!" He laughed, joking and not realizing that he had just played match-maker for future events to come.

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The flight home went by smoothly, and Danny made it back to his house twenty minutes before curfew. To avoid any issues that may arise, he flew down to the lab to empty the thermos and store it somewhere before flying back outside to walk in through the front door.

"Hey," he said to his parents, who were sitting in the living room talking. They looked up for a moment, surprised to see him before curfew, before waving back and smiling. "I'll be upstairs. Is dinner ready yet?"

"I haven't even started. I was in the mood for pizza." His mother, Maddie, said, earning an eager nod of approval from her husband.

"Sounds good to me," Danny grinned. He walked away, up the stairs with the intention of calling Tucker and Sam. His plans were put aside when his elder sister walked out of her room and accidentally bumped into him.

"Oh, hi Danny. My bad."

"Mhm, hey Jazz."

The siblings went on their way with Danny continuing on to his room, and Jazz to the stairs. At the last minute Jazz called out to Danny.

"I saw this space thing on the news today; you might be interested in it."

"Space thing?" Danny asked, as his eyebrows crinkled. He was interested, that was for sure, but he had no idea what his sister was getting at.

"Something about Mars; but it wasn't anything too serious."

Curious as ever, he dove into his room, flying over to his computer and booting it up before running a quick search. As this happened, Tucker managed to message him. The small window appeared on the bottom corner of his screen with a dull popping noise, like a depressed bubble spontaneously expiring.

FRYERTUCK: Hey, did you see the news yet?

GHOST BOY: No, I was out dealing with stuff. Thanks for the help.

FRYERTUCK: Heh heh, yeah… Well, take a look at it!

Danny shrugged, clicking at the link Tucker had sent him; it was faster than his computer was anyway. The new window came up in seconds, and he quickly scrolled through it, growing more and more surprised as he went. According to what he was reading, there was a freak asteroid on its way to earth. According to scientists, it had been on the move for centuries. It was set to hit the earth in within a week.

GHOST BOY: Oh, I thought it would be about something else. How do people not know this?

FRYERTUCK: Beats me. I already checked the site too, dude. It's legit.

GHOST BOY: I wish it wasn't.

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Danny chatted with Tucker for a little while longer, though he was mainly focused on reading the numerous articles he had found online. Most of them were by scientists in foreign countries but were written in English anyway.

Why wasn't the media reporting this? A freak asteroid on a collision course to Earth, surely it would at least show up on YouTube!

Frantically, Danny messaged Tucker, asking him to try and hack into some sites. Tucker's smug answer bounced back seconds later.

FRYERTUCK: I have. Why do you think I skipped out earlier? I, unlike Sam, actually had a reason. haha

GHOST BOY: Thanks. Dude, she has a mutant cold or something; it's not like she can run around all night.

FRYERTUCK: Kidding, kidding. So, do you want the sites, or should I just sum them up for you?

GHOST BOY: Send them! I want to see them for myself.

Tucker, knowing what Danny's answer would be, had already started sending the links. Danny eagerly opened them, reading the contents.

Going by what he saw, the United States was being kept out of the loop, which sounded like a load of bull. What if it was the people being kept out? That would make much more sense.

GHOST BOY: Dude, we need to talk to Sam about this tomorrow.

FRYERTUCK: Why not now?

GHOST BOY: Pizza. Later!

FRYERTUCK: …

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Danny turned of the monitor before leaving, deciding that it was better to be safe than sorry. He was wondering if a ghost, or Jazz, would come snooping around. It didn't seem likely, but he didn't want this information out until he completely understood it first. Shrugging, he left his room, making his way down into the kitchen. Everyone was already in there, and the pizza as well, so he slid into a seat at the table, helping himself to a few slices. Mouth full, he began chewing, idly watching his sister and mom talk about the possibility of ghosts having emotions.

It was sort of entertaining. Jazz was sure that they would have something, they were human once after all. Maddie actually seemed to consider this, resting her chin in her hand.

"Well, sweetie, it would make sense." She began, taking a small bite of pizza before continuing. "But ghosts are only impressions of people. They have no humanity. They are professional at faking it though, so maybe that's what you saw."

"Are you sure?" Jazz said. "I was planning on using the idea in my next project for class. Mr. Black seemed so interested in them."

"There isn't anything wrong with studying it. The possibility of you reaching the conclusion you want is slim, that's all."

"What about that Phantom kid?" Jack offered. Danny began coughing violently over his food, struggling for a moment to get the bit that was lodged in his throat down to his stomach. Jack looked at him in confusion before continuing with what he had been about to say. "The ghost punk tries to act like a decent person himself most of the time. He a pro at the acting, I swear."

"Danny, are you alright?" Maddie asked, concerned.

"Fine," Danny rasped.

Jazz looked his way for a moment, her expression difficult to read. Her eyes darted back to the food on her plate when Danny glanced over at her. Sensing a quiet moment coming on, Jack whipped out the latest invention he had been working on, slamming it into the table with a smile. Whatever sort of weapon it was, it resembled a miniature chainsaw. The thing roared into life when the man pulled a chain attached to the side of it. Not even staying around to hear what the thing was called, Danny excused himself.

Danny went once again to his room, turning the monitor back on to check if Tucker was still on. Apparently, the techno geek had left to get some food as well, so Danny simply deleted the window before reading the articles still up on the screen. There wasn't anything new to see, he had read it all earlier. It was too bad for him that he had no idea how to hack into sites. Frowning slightly and staring fruitlessly at the bright screen before him, the young hero began plotting. He could message Tucker again… No, he was offline. Next plan: go to Tucker's house. Failure again! It was after curfew, and his parents would somehow find out that he snuck out if he did. He was in enough trouble as it was these days. What about Sam? Odds were that she was asleep already, or was too out-of-it with medication to be of much help. So he went to Plan D.

Opening another window to the internet and typing a few key letters in found Danny at a familiar social networking site: Mugtome. He had joined when Tucker told him that he himself used it to stay in touch with Alex Rider, a recent addition to Team Phantom and the youngest spy in the world. This didn't mean that he went on a mission every other week though, as many believe spies do. To be frank, he was really only called into action whenever MI6 needed him. Even then, it usually involved something he either cared nothing about, or wanted nothing to do with. He could easily hear about top secret information this way though; every now and then he'd tell the trio some random fact he had learned on yet another mission. It was both distressing and comical to them when he let it slip about what kind of person Damian Cray actually was, though he only shared a few details. Tucker had still been in mourning about not being able to get his hands on a Gameslayer, and was incredibly jealous when the spy told him that he got to experience it twice. Alex refused to tell them what those experiences had been about however, and Danny guessed that they hadn't been too pleasant, though he kept this to himself.

Alex wasn't online; it was about four in the morning where he was, so Danny settled on sending him a message.

_Hey, have you heard anything about asteroids from the bank? Tuck found some stuff… Pretty freaky stuff. Check these sites out._

That was sent, leaving the boy to stare at the screen once more. With nothing else to do, and no ghosts to fight, Danny decided to just turn in for the night.

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It all went downhill from there. As soon as his head hit the pillow and his mind shut down, the boy was thrown into a personal hell- his memories.

It always started with fire and lightening, for unknown reasons, and was always followed by sharp pain, raw fear. _He_ would always be there laughing, taunting. Tonight was no different.

There was a flash of light, and the sudden feeling of falling, only to hit something all too soon. What he saw before him, a grimy ceiling, transformed to drop tiles and florescent lighting. He would cry out, feeling the cold metal of a clothing rack bar as it was slowly forced into his back, sob as he felt his life draining away with the growing pool of blood around him. _He_ would be there, standing over him, his foot on his chest, pressing down to force the invading metal further on into his body.

"_Honestly Daniel, you can't even land on a bar properly… Allow me to help you."_

Screaming filled his ears.

Somehow, his mind registered them as his own.

He would try and get away, but there would always be some force holding him. The boy was certain that this was death itself- lying helpless in a pool of blood, completely at the mercy of a being that was more powerful than you could ever be. Not a god, for no god, if there could be such a thing, would ever be so cruel. No, this was the work of a monster. Any god-like part of Vlad had withered away long ago.

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"_He killed him! He killed him! Alex he's dead! He attacked Tucker too, and I don't know if he's alright. But Danny…"_

"_Shh, Sam, calm down… It's alright, you're safe."_

"_I don't _want_ to be safe! Not when he's like this!"_

If anything, this was just as terrible as the gaping wound he had received from Vlad. His friends, supposedly arriving only moments late, were panicking, screaming. They thought he was dead. He wasn't, and he had heard every word they had said, unwillingly committing them to memory.

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On this night, like many others, Danny awoke with a strangled cry, covering his mouth tightly to hold in any screams he may have inside. There was no way to stop his tears so they fell freely, staining his pale cheeks. All of this, these nightmares, had only begun a month or two ago, far after the horrific events they portrayed. Danny believed that there was nothing he could do to stop it. Every night, when he did decide to try and sleep, would be plagued with the worry- would it happen again tonight?

He worked as hard as possible to keep these nightmares from everyone else. So far he was doing a pretty decent job, if one ignored the dark shadows that were constantly under his eyes and his odd terror of storms. He could keep this up- they didn't have to know.

Ten minutes of deep breathing, a technique he had learned from some therapy book Jazz made him read, allowed him to reach a state of relative calm, but the halfa knew that he would not be getting any more sleep that night. Thankfully it was the weekend. Sighing, he got to his feet wearily, walking to his computer and checking his messages on Mugtome. Surprisingly enough, Alex had already responded to his message.

_They never tell me anything unless they have work for me, which, lately, they thankfully haven't… That sounds very odd. Are you sure that these sites can be trusted?_

_They aren't on the news, are they? I suppose everyone is trying to hush it all up. Keep it calm to prevent panic. I would find out more if I were you._

_-Alex_

As soon as Danny had finished reading this, the familiar noise of a chat window sounded.

Cub: What's up? Odd hour for you to be on, mate.

GHOST BOY: Couldn't sleep.

Cub: …

GHOST BOY: I saw the message you sent back…

GHOST BOY: I think you're right about the media wanting to keep it quiet.

Cub: It's what they do best: control and contort the news.

Cub: How are the ghosts?

Cub: Haven't seen Yassen in a while.

GHOST BOY: They're just dying to get out of the Ghost Zone these days.

Cub: Haha

GHOST BOY: Really?

Cub: What?

GHOST BOY: I thought he'd hang around for a bit. Didn't he promise to watch you or something?

Cub: Well, yeah… I haven't really been in any trouble lately though, so it all works out. He isn't really a guardian or whatever; he's only doing it to repay my dad, I think.

GHOST BOY: He didn't seem the guardian type anyway.

Cub: Hey, sorry, Jack and I were going out for breakfast, so I'll see you around later, alright?

Alex signed off after that, leaving Danny to wonder where the spy had to run off to so quickly. Breakfast was the most important meal, he decided. It must be very important to Alex Rider. Blinking, Danny spun in his chair, turning himself to face his bookshelf, noting the void where his comic books had been. For some reason, seeing the characters in there fighting, seeing all the blood and gore, wasn't as appealing to him as it had once been. None of it was really, which was sad because he had once loved reading them. Frowning, Danny turned away, floating out of his chair to approach the middle of his room. Silently, he transformed into his more famous half- Danny Phantom. He stretched in midair, smiling a little as his body began to cool due to the surge of ectoplasm that had taken the place of his blood.

"Time for a little break,' he said, turning his body intangible before flying out into the open air of Amity Park. He climbed higher and higher in the air, past the clouds to take a glimpse at the stars. They hung there in the sky, blinking back at him as if they were trying to tell him warn him of something. Danny only smiled back, a tired yet relieved smile, before falling back into a fall, spinning away into a lazy flight. He wanted, needed, a moment where he could get away from everything. A small moment where time stood still and he was safe in the sky…

Come tomorrow, everything would begin to change.

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AN: Leave a review!

Updates will take a bit longer than before, so don't expect the next chapter for a week or two!


	2. Help From a Teacher

"I don't know about you, but I for one think this is crazy." Tucker lamented, frowning down at what had once been a proud and happy Nasty Burger. "They used to only cost a buck fifty, and now they're nearly three."

"The world is doomed." Danny agreed sarcastically, not bothering to remind his friend that he had covered the tab. A short period of silence followed, where they silently bickered at who would get the last fry. Both boys shot a hand towards it, and Tucker somehow managed to get it first. He dunked it in some ketchup before devouring it with a satisfied smile. Suddenly he froze, frowning again. Danny stared at him in a moment of confusion until he caught on.

"The world really is doomed." Tucker echoed, slightly stunned.

"Got any ideas?" Danny asked. His friend shrugged, suggesting that they contact NASA. Danny shook his head. "They should know by now."

"Steal a rocket?"

"I like that idea! But we'll get in huge trouble, and there's no way we'd get it past them without the Mission Control Center noticing…"

"Hah, mission. Why don't we ask Alex to make a loan from the bank?"

"I don't think they would."

Tucker sighed. "Rotten luck."

"No kidding."

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There was always the possibility of simply busting in Axiom again, in the hopes that they had replaced the space gear Danny had "borrowed" a year or two ago. Neither of the boys was even sure if a ghost needed a suit to go into space, but they were positive that a human would.

"I'm just spit-balling here man," Tucker said, thinking carefully before he continued speaking. "You're half-ghost, so we'll only need half a suit, right?"

"I'd like an entire suit, just in case something went wrong."

"What could possibly go wrong?"

"Well, now that you went and jinxed it…"

Tucker stared at his friend, thinking he was serious until Danny smirked, chuckling a little. Shrugging, the techno geek went on with things, turning to walk up the steps to Sam's house. They had left for the place a little after they had finished eating at the restaurant. Both boys knew that their friend was still sick, and that her parents could very well refuse to let them in. They also knew that Sam's grandmother lived with the Manson's, and that she was on her granddaughters, and her friends, sides. Feeling lucky, Tucker strode forward; the Goth's parents favored him over Danny, and rang the bell. They waited in tense silence for what seemed like ages, until the door opened sharply. A pale and pointed face shot out, glowering at the pair. Sam's mother.

"Oh, hello boys." She said, sounding anything but happy.

"Hello," they responded, one a bit more cheerful than the other. Eyes narrowing, the woman stared them down, taking in Tucker's appearance, which hadn't changed too much in all the years that she had known him, and Danny's. Much to her displeasure, her daughter's dark taste had crept into his wardrobe, and he had begun to wear more of the offending color. She was unaware that Sam was only a small, if that, reason for this change.

"Hey, Mrs. Manson, we brought Sam a tofu soy melt." Danny said, holding up the bag of food. The woman's eyebrows rose. "Uhh, would it be alright if we went and said hi to her?"

"Unless, she's still sick-" Tucker began, only to be cut off by Danny.

"-yeah, 'cause we'd totally understand."

As if it were answer enough, Mrs. Manson took the bag of food from Danny's surprisingly cold hand, curtly telling the youth that Sam was still unwell, and promptly shrunk back into her home, shutting the door after her.

"I don't think she's going to let us in," Tucker observed. Danny nodded, shrugging before turning and walking away. "Hey man, wait up! Where are you going?"

Danny looked at him, allowing his eyes to glow for a moment.

"I thought we'd go and see how Sam was feeling." He said. "Give it a few minutes, just in case the food is taken to her room. After that I'll fly us up there. We'll be in and out before you know it."

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The boys walked down the street, turning into an old alley so that Danny could transform into his alter ego without totally blowing his secret. He smiled to himself again, enjoying the change. For some reason, he was enjoying being in his ghost form more and more lately. Not that he'd go and tell anyone, not even Tucker. Secretly, he wished that he could stay in the form forever. When the thought had first crossed his mind he had found it most agreeable; after all, he was stronger as Phantom, and was starting to become a respected and loved figure in the town. Then reality would be back to slap him in the face, and he'd realize that he would have to actually die to become all ghost.

He and his friends had fought tooth-and-nail in the past to keep this from happening, and he didn't want to throw in the towel just like that. He figured that he was just depressed. Jazz had said the same thing when she had been around to visit last. Their conversation was still fresh in his mind:

"_Danny, I'm worried about you. You're almost as Goth as Sam." Jazz said, resting her hand on her brother's. She tried to look into his eyes, but he was looking the other way._

"_What's wrong with that? It's just clothes." Danny sighed, gently pulling his hand away. He crossed his arms across his chest, unconsciously defending himself from her words._

"_I know that Danny, but it's not like you at all." She stopped when her father walked past them, carrying his latest invention. "I heard you crying out in your sleep last night."_

"_It was just a nightmare, Jazz. People get those all the time." Danny said stiffly. _

"_What was it though? You obviously didn't get that much sleep last night; you have shadows under your eyes."_

"_Spiders wanted me to tap dance."_

"_Danny, please. Come on, I want to help you. Something has clearly upset you."_

"_Nothing's upset me!" Danny retorted, a little too quickly. Jazz sighed, giving up for the moment._

He had almost told her everything when she had come to him again later, but he didn't. What did she know? Whatever.

"Let's go," the halfa said, looking over at Tucker. The techno geek shrugged, grabbing Danny's cold shoulder just as the boy took to the air, turning the two of them invisible and intangible before making his way over to the Goth's window. They looked in the window for a brief moment to check the scene. Sam was there, sitting up and reading a book on her bed. She looked healthy, if one chose to overlook the mountain of used tissues circled around her. A box of fresh tissues lay beside her, like a loyal dog. The bag of food they had brought her lay on the bedside table, opened. Half of the sandwich had been consumed. The boys assumed that the coast was clear and entered the room.

"Hey Sam!" they said in unison, dropping to the ground and regaining visibility. The girl jumped, dropping her book. If she had cried out in alarm, which she very nearly did, they would have been in serious trouble. Scowling, she picked her book up, chucking it across the room at them. It hit Tucker, who caught it and checked out the cover.

"_The Idiot_?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Then he chuckled. "Are you trying to tell us something?"

"Yeah, Tuck, I am. Next time, give me a heads-up before you barge into my room." Sam said, fishing out another tissue. She quickly blew her nose.

"We tried to come up here the normal way, but your mom shut the door in our faces. We brought you a soy melt though." Danny said.

"Thanks. They haven't let me eat anything but veggie soup and crackers. Why are you guys here, anyway?"

"We, Tucker really, found some stuff out." Danny began.

"An asteroid is coming towards earth." Tucker cut in. Sam's jaw dropped. Danny revealed the worst of it next.

"According to the stuff we read, it'll hit us in about a week. Got any ideas?"

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The next minute or so was spent in complete silence. Sam stared between her friends, unable to believe what they had just told her. Finally, she broke the silence.

"This is serious, not a joke?"

"Why would it be?" Tucker said, sitting down in a chair.

"The media is probably keeping everything quiet because they don't know what to do and they don't want us to panic. How did you find this out?" Sam said, sitting up a bit straighter.

"I was bored, it's the weekend, and I'm single." Tucker shrugged.

"Have you figured out what we can do to stop this?" Sam said, aiming this question at both of the boys.

"No, that's why we came here. Three brains are better than two, you know?"

"Uhh, right…"

"What do you think, Sam? Could a ghost survive being in outer space?" Danny's question had been out of the blue. He was being completely serious though, much to his friends disdain. He blinked, glancing between them. "Come on, I've done it before…"

Sam shook her head. "Not when a huge floating rock set on crushing you was around."

"Yeah, well last time it was Valerie he was up against…" Tucker said, only being half serious.

"What would you do then, Danny? Blast it away?" Sam asked, ignoring Tucker's last comment. The halfa shrugged, fine with her suggestion. He didn't have a solid idea just yet. Sam shook her head again, sniffling. "Danny, it's an _asteroid_. It's going to be massive. It's not just another ghost fight."

"Well, what would you do?" he asked. She didn't answer.

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"So, there are about six days to impact, maybe five?" Sam asked. Danny shrugged, looking over to Tucker.

"Actually, it's about five." Tucker said, looking away. "Guess there's no chance in escaping to the Ghost Zone, is there?"

"It's the flipside of our world, so no. We need a plan." Danny said slowly, rubbing his chin.

"How about we call NASA?" Sam offered. "It's not much, but we have something they don't. I still don't like you going into space to fight an asteroid though."

"I do have a couple of numbers I could call that could put us in contact with at least someone over there. It's worth a shot."

"If all else fails, you could steal a rocket." Tucker said, trying to lighten the mood. Danny smiled a little, the thought was still tempting.

"No, Tuck." He finally said. They fell silent again, Danny staring out the window. All of a sudden, he clapped his hands once. "I have an idea! We could go there ourselves, to Kennedy Space Center at least. That way, they can't just hang up! I'm sure they don't have anything in their security just yet to keep ghosts out, so it will be easy. We can talk to the right people, and maybe they'll let us in on what's happening."

"Road Trip!" Tucker cheered.

"Wait, what about our parents? Remember last time?" Sam said, sneezing.

"Yeah, but this is different, Sam. The entire world could be destroyed-"

"You were almost destroyed too, Danny. Don't get me wrong, I really want to keep this asteroid from hitting us, but I think we should save the heroics for someone else."

Danny frowned, floating away to sit atop a bookshelf. He was clearly bothered by what she had said, but what really got to him was that she would just come out and say it, like his near-murder had somehow made him weaker. "I could do it, Sam." He said. "It won't attack me. It's not _him_." He said the last word with an angry sneer, not aimed at her, but at the memory of the crazy man who had almost done him in.

"I never said it was. Look, I'm sorry. It's just that, well, this seems to be too much for one person to handle on their own."

"Yeah, but we have something that they don't have." He repeated. "We have Tuck's tech savvy, your brains, and my ghost powers. Johnny's bike is still in the lab too." He added as an afterthought.

"It's too much of a risk. Look, why don't we just call them first? If that doesn't work, then we'll think of something else."

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Sam's last idea was final, everyone agreed on it. With that done, the boys decided to leave, before Sam's parents walked in. That would just be awkward. They were in Danny's room now, trying to find the phone numbers that he thought he still had. They were at least four years old, and he had no idea if they were any good.

"What about this?" Tucker said, holding up a battered pamphlet for the John F. Kennedy Space Center, or KSC. It bore the NASA logo, and looked good enough. Danny nodded, flying over silently to take the paper from him. Flipping through it, Danny smiled.

Nathan Sail.

It was only a name, but it was something to work with. As if reading his best friends mind, Tucker had already whipped out his PDA, doing a search of the name. While he did this, Danny went to search the darkest corners of his messy closet, all the while talking. This Sail guy, he guessed, was only a speaker or something. The Fenton's had all gone to the KSC when he had been in eighth grade or so, and had gone on a couple of tours. Somehow, his mother's status in the science community had given the family some exclusive access.

"Sail's uncle used to be an astronaut, so he's been in the business for a couple of years. He never went into space himself, but he's an expert on it or something." Tucker recited, his glasses reflecting the glow of his beloved technological device as he continued to read aloud. "He's a space programs expert." He corrected himself, looking up. "Well?"

"What about this: I overshadow Mr. Iron before science class, and have him make a couple of calls to the right people? We could take a field trip to the place-"

"And it would look totally normal! Dude, this is perfect!"

"Iron said we'd learn about that kind of stuff in a few weeks anyway, so it all works out. I'll just slip past security, snoop around, and be back before the lunch break."

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The plan was set, leaving the boys with nothing to do but wait. Tucker had gone back to his own home to play an online game in the hopes of chatting with Sam without her parents getting in the way, promising Danny that he'd have his tech gear ready for the trip, though Danny didn't really think that they would be needed. Better to be overly prepared than not though, so he went with it. In the meantime, Danny returned to Mugtome to tell Alex a vague idea of what they were up to.

_Tucker and I (maybe Sam too) are hoping on going on a class trip to the Kennedy Space Center. I'm not sure what the teacher is planning, I still have to meet up with him. From what I can figure, the trip is bound to be informative on at least a few levels. Let's see how this works out…_

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Monday morning arrived bright and early- so very, very early. With a groan, Danny rolled over, blasting his alarm clock with a weak charge of ecto energy. The thing clattered to the floor, and was silent. Satisfied, the boy fell back against his pillow, trying to gain a little more sleep before his mom barged in to make him get ready for the day. He won himself fifteen minutes, and was rewarded with only five minutes to spare with getting ready for the day.

He leapt from bed when he noticed what time it was, throwing on the nearest clothes he could find, which had been what he had worn on the previous day, before phasing into his shoes and running into the bathroom to finish getting ready. On his way downstairs, he managed to grab some Fenton Toast, and he promised himself that he would get some more food later before rushing out the door. Once outside, he transformed, flying off to school. No use bothering with the school bus crowd. Besides, he was certain that he had already missed the bus. He landed in the confines of Casper High, in the boy's bathroom, which was vacant of any other occupants. A quick flash of light found Danny Fenton standing in the middle of the room, a little worse for wear but otherwise on time for school. He checked his reflection in the mirror, knowing that his hair was a lost cause, as always, before running off to first period. A longer route was taken to avoid Dash and the other jocks, and he was only halfway in the door when the bell rang. Mr. Lancer looked up with a raised eyebrow, skillfully ignoring the snickers of Danny's fellow classmates.

"Well, Mr. Fenton, this is a first. You're actually on time today." He finally said, a ghost of a smile tugging at his aging face. He gestured to an empty desk. "Take a seat."

Danny nodded, walking over and sliding into the desk. Beside him, Tucker discreetly flashed a thumbs up sign, grinning. Danny returned the gesture. Both of them knew that the only reason the halfa had managed to make it on time was that there wasn't a single ghost outside the Zone. The Lunch Lady was the last one. Either they all knew that the earth was on death row, or they were just being generous.

"Tell you at lunch," Danny hissed to Tucker before turning to face Mr. Lancer as the lecture began. It was over _Macbeth_, Shakespeare's famous king-killing play. As interesting as Danny found the material, for once at least, he knew this was more in Sam's field of interest. She was the one who had helped him and Tucker to understand Shakespeare stuff in the first place. She was still out sick however, so the boys would have to struggle through reading Act three alone together.

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The next few classes went by in a blur of gym uniforms and the odd textbook, finding the two boys later seated together at their usual table, out of the way from the jocks and close enough to a door to make for a quick escape if a ghost were to drop in for a visit. As promised, Danny was giving a brief explanation as to why he had almost been late to class.

"I went to Mr. Iron's house, which took awhile, and overshadowed him and then his wife so that they would think that they agreed on the field trip. When I left he was already making the phone calls." Danny explained, taking a small bite of food.

"If I didn't know you had ghost powers, I'd say you were a creeper."

"It does sound bad, doesn't it?" Danny agreed. Tucker shrugged.

"It's better than having the world blown to bits by a floating rock, man, way better. So what then?"

"I had to overshadow him again to get him to mention my family. You can't just walk into the place; you have to make a reservation to go because they're so busy. Last time I went with my family, my mom was able to get us into the behind-the-scenes kind of stuff."

"Dude."

"I know, right? I'm not sure how it all worked out though, so we'll have to wait until seventh period."

Tucker shook his head. "No, I mean it's just different for you to think things through so much. Didn't know you had it in you."

"Thanks, Tuck."

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Fifth period was math class, a personal hell for the town's hero because both of his friends weren't in his class to start with and because, quite plainly, it was _math_ class. Nothing eventful occurred there, and sixth period was hardly any different. Dash had taken it upon himself to stuff him in his locker and steal his backpack during passing period, and the smaller boy had missed the first twenty minutes of his own class because he had to go on a mad search through the school for it. And so, grumbling, Danny eventually wandered into class just in time to get the assignment. Luck was on his side, because the teacher, Mrs. Alvey, was one of the nicest teachers in the school; he got off with a warning.

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Spirits lifted a little, Danny arrived in time to get a seat in the back of class. Tucker arrived moments later, sliding into the seat to the left of Danny's. Mr. Iron was at the front of the class, behind his own desk, typing away furiously at his computer. It was curious really, he never acted like this, as if he were fueled by some obscure wish. He kept at it even after the tardy bell went off. The majority of the class assumed that this meant they were able to talk loudly and otherwise be a distraction _en masse_, throwing wads of paper around when they thought the teacher wouldn't see them. Danny skillfully dodged an eraser aimed at his head, glaring at Dash, before turning to ignore him. Mr. Iron was still on the computer, distracted, so the halfa whipped out his phone, he got it after the drama with the murderous fruit loop, to quickly text Sam. He was bored, and wanted to see how she was.

That said and done, he slid the phone out of sight in his pocket, slouching down in his seat. The action caused a stray bit of hair to fall into his eyes, and quickly brushed it to the side.

"So, what do you think?" he asked Tucker. The techno geek shrugged.

"Uh, you're hair looks fine?"

"No… wait, what? I mean the KSC stuff."

"Right, I have no idea. Well, we're going to find out in a sec, right?"

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AN: Notice anything odd about Nathan Sail's name? NAthan SAil… I feel sooper smart for thinking that one up!


End file.
